What a year 2021 was! First, I would like to express how proud I am of the growth we achieved as one big team. Despite 2021 being another tricky year for everyone with the pandemic and its economic ripple effect, our resilience as a group shone through.

An organization is only as good as the people and culture driving it. I was proud to see the collective determination; how our people collaborated and adapted to new challenges to find innovative ways to solve problems for our clients.

In our digitization journey, we have embraced even higher levels of automation and digitization which have kept us strong. We have also made great strides in several industries including Oil & Gas, agriculture, and real estate with IoT Technology. We will keep at our goal to connect everyone and everything in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa with the Internet of Things technology.

To our incredible clients, OEMs, and channel partners, thank you for being a big part of our 2021. We couldn’t have done it without your support. By God’s grace, 2022 will be another transformative year for the Tranter Group of companies.

I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and successful year!

Lare Ayoola

Executive Chairman, Tranter IT, & IoT Africa

When you think of workspaces what comes to mind? You think of a table or desk to place laptops, phones, documents, and chairs to sit on. A place where people perform administrative work for a company.

Traditional workspaces are evolving rapidly toward flexible and smarter workplace models. We’ve all been through the pandemic and had to work remotely, this has evolved the employee experience and companies are still deciding what changes they are going to make to their work models.

This simply means that CEOs, COOs, HR Managers, Facility Managers and other key company managers have to be innovative with change for better productivity. An optimized work environment reduces costs and enables smart work. Organizations moving to a Smart Work Environment can save up to €1,220 (about ₦596,000) per year in real estate costs.

The ultimate goal here is to save cost, improve productivity while attracting and retaining talented workers. Even though rapid changes like Covid-19 and social distancing are making it difficult to optimize space layouts, good data is essential for planning space use. This is where Smart Space Monitoring comes in.

What is Space Monitoring? It is simply a workplace management solution that helps you to understand, prioritize and decide how to increase employee productivity and wellbeing. It is the system of controlling and managing the different physical workspaces a business occupies.

Covid 19 & Space Monitoring

It’s clear that the covid 19 pandemic has created a significant disruption in the business environment. The increase in number of employees working from home, as well as new restrictions on safe working environments, have a direct impact on the use of office space. As a result, companies will need to reassess their approach to office spaces in light of new data suggesting that even after the epidemic, remote work will grow increasingly popular.

Indoor Air Quality is also a growing concern with the Covid-19 pandemic and its new variant, emissions, and the desire for people to be healthy. Good indoor air quality is important to improve productivity and reduce Illnesses/sick leaves and airborne disease contamination. Employees also need tools to find the right space, book a room and feel safe. To have a more productive, happier, and healthier workforce, companies are combining improved air quality and space management applications.

Early this year, a space monitoring webinar was organised by IoT Africa (Tranter IT Company) tagged How to Improve Productivity & Safety using IoT. At the webinar, we had three global industry experts as keynote speakers, the speakers included Tom Lindblad, the Founder of Connected Finland; Maija Patjas, the Head of International Relations, Rapal Oy; and Melanie Ayoola, the Executive Director of IoT Africa Limited and Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited. The event was moderated by Wole Bamgboye, the Communications Manager, IoT Africa Limited, and Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited.

Maija Patjas, the head of International Relations at Rapal spoke at length on the need to welcome Space monitoring at our workspaces. She described how optimized workspaces can create a better work environment and lead to higher efficiency levels among company staff. Maija spoke about how managing hybrid work is making it difficult to optimize space layouts. She highlighted how the way we working is changing from an individual-based system into a social, collaborative use of space, with more focus on how employees feel about the environment, and how they can use a more flexible environment to be more productive. She also explained how improved productivity and collaboration, better satisfaction, better indoor comfort, reduced real estate costs, and energy savings can all be achieved when organizations integrate Smart Space Monitoring.

To watch the full video of the webinar, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55FFcbZyIEs

Why exactly do we need space monitoring in our businesses you would ask? Why not stick to what we know? Because space monitoring greatly influences the physical workspace of a business, it enables strategic planning to provide cost-effective solutions and allows the record of space you have available to be optimized for employees to perform their work more efficiently.

6 reasons to embrace Space Monitoring:

1. Reduce real estate cost: It may appear that determining when the space is being utilized is as simple as glancing at the office’s normal opening hours, but this naive approach ignores numerous aspects of today’s working environment. For example, with flexible and hybrid working hours now more popular than ever, can you actually say for sure when most of your employees come and go? A space management system can give you an accurate picture of how many people you need to have space for on an average day, and show you the trends of demand for this space across weeks and months.

2. Reduce your Company’s energy consumption: Knowing when the company is in use gives you a chance to better plan and operate lights, ACs, gadgets to coincide with actual demand and not just whe4n you assume the most people will need it.

3. Protect the well-being of your employees: as we feel the fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak, there is no question that the pandemic has left a potentially permanent impression on how space is organized in the workplace. With social distancing firmly fixed in our minds, people will be more conscious than ever about how closely they may be crammed in their offices.

4. Flexible Allocation of Space: It aids in the flexible allocation of space, ventilation, cooling, and cleaning costs.

5. Use your Building Better: Knowing how conference rooms, workstations, and workspaces are used in practice makes it much easier for managers to establish effective capacity usage plans.

6. It offers invaluable insight into how employees, office space, and technology interact to create a healthy and productive workplace. As a result, you can increase the productivity of your staff, who will find it easier and more efficient in a smart office tailored specifically to their working needs.

About IoT: IoT Africa Networks Limited is the exclusive Sigfox operator in Nigeria and we are responsible for rolling out the first IoT nationwide network in Nigeria. The IoT LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network), powered by IoT Africa Networks Ltd and Sigfox, is a game-changing digital technology in Nigeria.

About Tranter IT: Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited (Tranter IT) is an ICT and Internet of Things Solutions company that provides unified technology solutions to business problems. The company is the exclusive distributor of many IoT Connected devices in Nigeria. Tranter IT was founded in 2004 and has over 340 highly skilled employees, including about 280 ICT and IoT engineers.

About Rapal: Rapal specializes in the financial and environmental effects of the built environment. It is The company provides SaaS software for space management, space utilization, and smart office solutions. It is the company’s belief that a functioning work environment and a great workplace experience is a competitive factor that increases productivity and employee wellbeing.

For more information, please visit IoT Africa’s website https://www.iotafricanetworks.com/.

T: 07083557478, 07085801253

Email: enquiries@iotafricanetworks.com, enquiries@tranter-it.com

Website: www.iotafricanetworks.com, www.tranter-it.com.

Are you exhausted but unable to sleep at night? Do you wake up feeling cynical and unmotivated to start the day? Have you turned to food, or other substances to cope with how you feel? If this sounds close to home, you may be experiencing burnout. That feeling that you cannot keep moving forward, but do not know what else to do or how to get out of it. All you want to do is sleep and wake up when things are better.

You are not alone in this. A Gallup study found that 23 percent of people in the workforce experience burnout very often or always, and an additional 44 percent feel burnt out sometimes. All this means that nearly two-thirds of employees are burnt out on the job. Burnout triggers a full physical response such as triggers high blood pressure, vulnerability to illness, and insomnia as common symptoms.

The 5 stages of burnout

This guide is inspired by Winona State University’s burnout study, as well as our own psychological research. Burnout can affect anyone, at any time in their lives. However, a recent study has shown that the average professional experiences burnout by the age of 32. As with any illness, symptoms of burnout change from person to person, however, we have identified that the following five stages are commonly observed:

1. HONEYMOON PHASE

When we undertake a new task, we often start by experiencing high job satisfaction, commitment, energy, and creativity. This is especially true of a new job role, or the beginnings of a business venture. In this first phase of burnout, you may begin to experience predicted stresses of the initiative you are undertaking, so it is important to start implementing positive coping strategies, such as taking practical steps to support your well-being alongside your professional ventures.

The theory is that if we create good coping strategies at this stage, we can continue in the honeymoon phase indefinitely. Common symptoms include:

• Job satisfaction

• Readily accepting responsibility

• Sustained energy levels

• Unbridled optimism

• Commitment to the job at hand

• The compulsion to prove oneself

• Free-flowing creativity

• High productivity levels

2. ONSET OF STRESS

The second stage of burnout begins with an awareness of some days being more difficult than others. You may find your optimism waning, as well as notice common stress symptoms affecting you physically, mentally, or emotionally.

Common symptoms include:

• High blood pressure

• Inability to focus

• Irritability

• Job dissatisfaction

• Lack of sleep or reduced sleep quality

• Lack of social interaction

• Lower productivity

• Unusual heart rhythms

• Anxiety

• Avoidance of decision making

• Change in appetite or diet

• Fatigue

• Forgetfulness

• The general neglect of personal needs

• Grinding your teeth at night

• Headaches

• Heart palpitations

3. CHRONIC STRESS

The third stage of burnout is chronic stress. This is a marked change in your stress levels, going from motivation to experiencing stress on an incredibly frequent basis. You may also experience more intense symptoms than those of stage two.

Common symptoms include:

• Lack of hobbies

• Missed work deadlines and/or targets

• Persistent tiredness in the mornings

• Physical illness

• Procrastination at work and at home

• Repeated lateness for work

• Resentfulness

• Social withdrawal from friends and/or family

• Uptake of escapist activities

• Anger or aggressive behaviour

• Apathy

• Chronic exhaustion

• Cynical attitude

• Decreased sexual desire

• Denial of problems at work or at home

• Feeling threatened or panicked

• Feeling pressured or out of control

• Increased alcohol/drug consumption

• Increased caffeine consumption

4. BURNOUT

Entering stage four is burnout itself, where symptoms become critical. Continuing as normal is often not possible in this state as it becomes increasingly difficult to cope. We all have our unique limits of tolerance, and it is key that you seek intervention at this stage (for clinical issues, please refer to our partner Thrive Your Life). Common symptoms include:

• Development of an escapist mentality

• Feeling empty inside

• Obsession over problems at work or in life

• A pessimistic outlook on work and life

• Physical symptoms intensify and/or increase

• Self-doubt

• Social isolation

• Behavioural changes

• Chronic headaches

• Chronic stomach or bowel problems

• Complete neglect of personal needs

• Continuation or increase in escapist activities

• Desire to “drop out” of society

• Desire to move away from work or friends/family

5. HABITUAL BURNOUT

The final stage of burnout is habitual burnout. This means that the symptoms of burnout are so embedded in your life that you are likely to experience a significant ongoing mental, physical or emotional problem, as opposed to occasionally experiencing stress or burnout.

Common symptoms include:

• Chronic sadness

• Depression

• Burnout syndrome

• Chronic mental fatigue

• Chronic physical fatigue

How to prevent burnout

While burnout can cause issues at work, at home, and in life in general, it is always possible to take action and move towards Stage 1. Even if you are not experiencing stress or burnout now, we suggest the wisest course of action is to proactively take up self-care practices and build your mental resilience.

Solution 1: Focus on the things you can control. This starts with doing an evaluation of all the things you feel are out of your control (working hours, break times, projects) and then focus on the things you can, in fact, control.

• Do you actually have to check your email every minute? You need to question these types of work habits when considering how important it is to give your mind a rest.

• Do you have too many notifications buzzing on your phone? When you are in the middle of completing a task, it is your decision whether you pick up the incoming phone call or reply to that never-ending text group. If your boss hands you a new project, you have the right to ask your boss to help you prioritize your workload. The conversation can sound like, “Can you help me prioritize these projects for a moment? Here’s what I am currently working on, and here is what I have pending on deck. Here’s how long X will take me, here’s how long Y would take me. Should I make any workflow changes to honour your priorities?” Boom.

Solution 2: Take an inventory of the people in your life. Write down all the names of those you interact with most and then consider if they lift you up or drag you down. When you read their name on the list ask yourself:

• Do I get excited or anxious when their name pops up on my phone with a call or text? This will help you become aware of who feels unhealthy for you, allowing you to set limits.

• When a complainer starts venting, try to transition the conversation from what is wrong, to how it can be fixed. Ask them if they need help coming up with solutions for the problem. If they continue to wallow in their negativity, set a time limit and then politely excuse yourself from the conversation. Consider adding more positive people into your life, like a mentor who can help direct you towards professional and personal growth.

Solution 3: Bring balance back into your life.

• Tackle the most important task of the day first. Whether the task is a workplace presentation, or getting a doctor’s appointment set up. The majority of the population’s productivity is highest in the mid-morning hours, so considering carving this time out for that top task.

• Establish little goals and rewards. With both monotony and chaos, small rewards will help give you the motivation to keep going. Allow these sweet moments of joy to be a reminder of why you are working.

• Keep a gratitude list. At the end of each workday jot down three things you are grateful for. Counting your blessings is not simply a “woo-woo” mindset shift, it actually helps improve cardiovascular health and makes you more resilient to stress. Take it seriously.

• Accept that there is no such thing as “perfection” when it comes to balancing your life. You will tetter and totter, but it’s all about being aware and course-correcting efficiently. Accept that some days will be all about work, but then some days must be all about rest, family, and fun.

Burnout is not a new problem, but as the pandemic continues into 2021, it is critical that company leaders understand how to identify and mitigate it.

Source:

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2020/03/10/workplace-burnout-heres-whats-causing-it-and-how-to-avoid-it/?sh=3927daa7178d

• https://www.thisiscalmer.com/blog/5-stages-of-burnout